I fast-forwarded through Jeremy & Nick, except for when Maggie came in and did her awesome thing. The actress playing Morgan is so natural and soft that I find myself liking her, though I can't stand Stephanie and am not looking forward to this storyline.

But the meat of the show, the actual heart for the first time in a long, long time (imho) was spot on. I cried a little, though I've never been a John fan. Everyone who I felt needed to be involved directly was present.

Alfonso was great in her supporting role, but the one who broke me was Madison. Sitting there, bags under her eyes from the crying, really...amazing.

I agree with those who think the lighting in the next-to-last scene really worked. It reminded me of a play, actually, with the spotlight effect on the action with the others fading to the background a bit. That set a nice tone...

...which they quickly undermined with that Sami/Lucas bullshit. For me, that was a total slap in the face to everyone involved in the sad beauty of John's death. People just gave the best performances I have ever seen from them (and not just "good for Days" or even "good for a soap" but genuinely good) and they threw that shit after it as the last impression. Ridiculous.

Still, overall, pushing that out of my mind as though it never happened- it was a really, really great episode.